FORUM

Set in Rithaign the game opens on a boat.

A hunched figure of a ferryman punts a boat across the river with PCs within. PCs shiver and think back to the agreement to find and recover a woman called Rosalina Santos from the Low Quarter North of the river and bring her back to the Carpasso Estates off Odren Square.

Oh and the PCs?

Zeto: a noble and a bit of a fop. He is friend to Lorenzo but looks down on him because he is in trade.

Lorenzo: another noble, brought up in Marnh. He was a child hostage, a pawn in a game between two houses financial dealings. He runs a small family textile mill.

Hraku: a savage from the islands sold into slavery but he escaped. Works as Lorenzo’s hired muscle.

Layn: a female rogue also an islander and working where she can find steady coin. Presently employed as a scout by Zeto.

Thinking back Zeto remembers his conversation and agreement that he now questions….

Isobel Carpasso of the house Carpasso approached Zeto and Lorenzo. She has received word from a friend in hiding, Rosalina Santos. The Kingsmen seek her friend and she fears the worst. She offers up a reward for Rosalina’s rescue and safe passage into the grounds of the Carpasso Estate. Santos must not be spirited away by the Kingsmen.

After disembarking on the northern quarter riverside the group finds a suitable hostelry. With all the subtlety of a pair of naïve nobles on the wrong side of town they blunder in and throw their weight and coin around. Thanks only to their charisma and reputation for trouble they avoid some cutters thinking they have an easy mark. However, they also learn that Rosalina’s name causes locals to quickly close ranks. A little pushing reveals that Kingsmen activity has increased in the quarter and tensions are running high, there are also Dryght on patrol with the Kingsmen. Finally to defuse the on-going situation the landlord gives the party an address just to get rid of them before things really kick off.

Obviously something more is going on here...

After some navigation avoiding patrols the party find themselves in an alley confronted by a group of thugs. This was a first test fight with the thugs having no inspirations. The fight went well as a test. It was fast to resolve and the players ‘got it’ very quickly. Some highlights were the savage using savage and the biggest thug using Brute charging each other and bouncing off and the rogue setting up a ‘double feint’ followed by a ‘flashing blades’ to dispatch the leader.

Impressions?

The first session went well. Combat was as fast as billed and easier to GM multiple characters than I first thought. The players all enjoyed and initial thoughts were positive about the system. I need to re-read social combat because that felt a little meta play in the first encounter.

Second session completed the first mini adventure.

The players found the woman they were hunting's house and broke in through the roof while avoiding Kingsmen patrols. While inside they found a secret hatch and triggered a trap. A wicker golem was released and this gave them a little trouble but was ultimately dispatched.

The hidden room was a druid/fixer study they also found an escape route into the sewer.

Searching the sewer they found the woman and then chased her down. Pushing it was mainly an issue with footing and falling into the sewer. Rogues are masters of the chase we found.

After this they talked her around and then stole back accross the river by making use of the Noble's organisation.

Job done.

Chris, awesome write-ups!

For social combat, we do it more fluidly. Roleplay, someone rolls a die - usually I just say ok, roll your attack when I sense it's a good point in the conversation - and we resolve the attack. Often I give bonuses or penalties for witty or blundering roleplay. Then the target can make a rejoinder. And it goes back and forth like this, using fashion items as bonus dice, reps, etc. On the much rarer occasion that we use improv (usually lines or rudolph or themes), it's a bit more formal, but still just a normal conversation with someone (usually me) just deciding when in the conversation a roll needs to be made.

Since I last posted the party has moved on. They completed a quest with a dungeon to recover an ancient spellbook from a lost and hidden (under a magic shroud) Dragon Isle. On return they found their patron had suffered "an infirmity of the mind" and a female NPC who the party were very wary of had been given his power of attorney. She claimed that their contract for recovery was now with her because of the terms of the writ. All the papers were in order and the party leader had an honourable edge. So the players eventually had to hand over the prize to their enemy and hated moment of it. One of the players wanted to just launch an attack and kill her. However, the other players pointed out that that wont work. She is bound to be protected by an inspiration. That was the point I realised that they had got the game.

Now the game has shifted from the party being reactive and doing traditional quests to being proactive. This is where scene order play is a gem over other RPGs. it give a handling framework for player driven story lines.

Yes it was more pausing than stalling.

Last night one of the noble characters was at a social event and dancing with a young female NPC who was the daughter of one of the other nobles. He did s social attack to reduce mood by making some suggestions about her father's improprietry. She in turn did a pirouette with her heel on his toe as a counter attack to demonstate her displeasure and make sure his mood was also lowered.

I think this is the first game i have run where just about all players have got on the same page over how integral social combat is to the story. I can only compliment you on the cleverness of the approach.